Tyler Bray has all the physical tools to be a franchise quarterback, but he has a character red flag and needs a lot of work on his game. If Bray was a first-round pick, he’d probably be high on the list of potential busts and you wouldn’t bet on his success.

As an undrafted free agent, Bray becomes a bit more interesting. Remember, Bray declared early for the draft, so going undrafted was a big slice of humble pie. What Bray should now realize is that his size and arm have taken him as far as they ever will.

Perhaps the best indication that Bray now understands the task ahead of him was the decision to sign with the Kansas City Chiefs. Head coach Andy Reid is a known quarterback whisperer that can clean up the many areas of Bray’s game that need work. It’s never a bad thing to have an offensive coordinator that has played the position professionally either, as Doug Pederson is a former pro quarterback.

Bray can learn maturity from Alex Smith, who remained a class act through good times and bad times in San Francisco and was highly respected by his teammates. Chase Daniel will also be part of the quarterback room and is a high-character player that spent the last four years watching Drew Brees in New Orleans.

The Chiefs will also be willing to invest time in Bray because they probably don’t have a quarterback of the future on the roster. Given the situation, Bray has a good chance to be an undrafted free agent success story in 2013 and beyond.

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Alex Smith will be better than Geno or Cassel, Alex Smith will be better than Geno or Cassel, Alex Smith will be better than Geno or Cassel, Alex Smith will be better than Geno or Cassel...

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Alex Smith will be better than Geno or Cassel, Alex Smith will be better than Geno or Cassel, Alex Smith will be better than Geno or Cassel, Alex Smith will be better than Geno or Cassel...

I'm not an Iowa Hawkeye homer. I'm from Iowa, but an ND fan. I am exposed to pretty much every Hawkeye game though because that's what everyone else is watching, so I'm not going to lie to ya'll and say that I'm totally detached from it.

Am I a Stanzi homer? Yes... met the guy a couple times while partying at Iowa. He was cool shit, both times. The closest I ever was to being an official 100% converted Hawkeye fan was during the Stanzi era. Iowa football shit was fun and contagious during the Stanzi era.

So yes, what I write about the guy may be biased, but I will try to be as bias-free as possible as to how I am perceiving what's happening at the QB spot. Being someone who has been on the "Brayndwagon" for over a year may alleviate my Stanzi bias a bit.

With that said, I am not fully convinced that Stanzi will be the 100% for sure, odd man out. Reid seemed "intrigued" by Stanzi when asked about him in an interview. He said that he watched literally every play of his from preseason and from college and basically implied that he doesn't believe that we have much of a sample from Stanzi's preseason play to base any opinions off of due to the limited amount of playing time he was given along with the horrific circumstances that clouded the already limited sample size of Stanzi's preseason footage. Reid didn't seem as "intrigued" by Cassel and I never read him comment on Tanney...and well, they're gone.

And if Reid felt THAT pressured to find an additional QB, I'm sure he would have addressed the need in the draft prior to signing Bray as an UDFA. The fact that we did sign Bray as an UDFA showed me that they are looking to improve or potentially build upon the position for the future. However, waiting that long to address the situation also indicated to me that he was at the very least, moderately comfortable with the QB situation the Chiefs had coming in to the draft.

Reid, when asked about Bray, mentioned something about the importance of players fitting into a specific scheme. I think the thought of Stanzi operating a West coast offense is an interesting one and I think it may be something consistent with his capabilities/skill-set. I think Reid's offense is Stanzi-compatible.

And apologies in advance to the MU homeslices, but who the **** is Chase Daniel? Why does he appear to have been given such a nice looking free pass in terms of fulfilling the backup spot? Ok, so he was an UDFA himself in 2009 who was cut during the final preseason cut-downs by the team who signed him, which led to him signing with the Saints practice squad and then going through a sporadic pattern (in no particular order) of repeatedly being promoted to 3rd string, cut, signed to the practice squad, cut, promoted to 3rd string, etc. before finally solidifying the Saints backup QB role in 2010 by out-battling super-stud, Patrick Ramsey for the spot....... He's thrown for what? 50 yards or so in his 4 seasons in the NFL. With a Drew Brees-led offense, the Saints have been on the winning end of many blowouts these past few years...you'd think a QB prospect they had any inclination of being an integral component of their future would get more opportunities than he did. It comes off to me as if he has been littered with ?-marks and/or hadn't been perceived in remotely serious fashion by the first 2 NFL teams he played for. So who the **** is he to be the auto-ordained number 2 guy in KC? Ok, so he signed a 3-year, $10 million dollar contract to be our backup, which is a very nice deal for a backup and indicates that we are at least, moderately committed to him. But is he THAT non-expendable IF he were to be obviously out-performed in TC and preseason by Bray and Stanzi? Not saying that will happen, saying IF that were the case.

The fact that the dude hasn't done shit in the NFL, but was given such a generous contract for a backup QB, makes me think part of why they pursued him to begin with was because of his popularity within the KC fanbase's general geographical location. I thought the same, to a much lesser degree than Daniel, could have been said about Stanzi, being from Iowa. I can think of a few people right off the top of my head who were previously "neutral" in terms of their favorite NFL team, but have become Chiefs fans (probably temporary Chiefs fans) for the sole reason being: "I want to see Stanzi play." Stanzi was popular when compared to other Hawkeye QB's. An increase in Chiefs fans in a state (Iowa) where many football fans are "college/fantasy-exclusive" football fans, all because of a #3 QB, probably won't do wonders for generating $, but doesn't hurt.

What I THINK will happen next year in terms of the QB situation will be; 1.) Sniff, 2.) Daniel, 3.) Bray and Stanzi back and forth with the practice squad and number 3 pending potential injuries, similarly to how Daniel was treated his first year as a Saint. However, while I THINK that will happen, I am not fully convinced that that is 100% for certain going to take place. The only thing that I think is etched in stone is that Alex Smurf will be our starting QB...Reid made that very clear from the get-go after we signed him. However, I don't think there is anything etched in stone regarding our future #2, 3 and practice squad QB and that includes Daniel.

I wouldn't cross Stanzi off COMPLETELY, yet. He has at least, sparked Andy Reid's interest, if even to a miniscule extent. If he hadn't, Reid wouldn't have gone out of the way to mention that he has researched him as extensively as he has, by watching every snap he's taken in college and preseason.

And what's sad is that if I could cut any of our 4 current QB's, it'd be Smith. That's how little faith I have in his capability to lead us to anywhere, but nowhere. My personal faves on our roster are Bray and Stanzi... I guess I was just destined to live a life of being the #1 fan of the #3 QB on an under-achieving football team. This coming season will presumably be my 3rd year in a row with that status.

The father of Tyler Bray said his son is “very excited’’ about signing a free agent contract with the Kansas City Chiefs, but Jeff Bray couldn’t mask his disappointed over the former Tennessee quarterback going undrafted when he was projected to be picked as high as the second round by some draft analysts.

“It was brutal,’’ Jeff Bray said in a phone interview to The Sports Animal, of watching the draft from his home in California with Tyler.

“I personally think with that kind of talent, to sit through something like that, it just amazes me.’’

Tyler Bray sometimes did some amazing things as Tennessee’s quarterback, throwing for 3,612 yards and 34 touchdowns last season and ranking among UT’s top four all-time in TD passes and passing yards. He has the school record for most 400-yard games (four) and passed for 530 against Troy, second most in SEC history.

But he never beat a ranked team, won just two SEC games in his last two seasons at Tennessee, endured some off-the-field issues and didn’t display the leadership qualities NFL scouts desire from a quarterback.

Jeff Bray said Tyler signed a three-year free agent contract with Kansas City with bonuses for making the roster and the practice squad. He said Chiefs coach Andy Reid called before the draft ended, expressing an interest in Bray.

“Nobody wants him (in the draft), then for two hours the phone does not stop ringing from different teams,’’ Jeff Bray said. “As a parent, you say: ‘You want him now, but you didn’t want him in the draft?’ ’’

Jeff Bray said two teams, including the Pittsburgh Steelers and coach Mike Tomlin, said they would draft Bray. But the Steelers instead took Oklahoma quarterback Landry Jones in the fourth round.

Eleven quarterbacks were selected in the draft, including a guy from Southern Utah and Duke’s Sean Renfree.

“I know I’m his parent, but I don’t see how 11 quarterbacks get picked, and the best quarterback physically is not picked,’’ Jeff Bray said.

ESPN analyst Bill Polian, former general manager of the Indianapolis Colts, said Tyler Bray had an inconsistent release point which affected his accuracy and he questioned Bray’s decision making.

Tyler Bray might have hurt himself during his Quarterback Camp session on ESPN with Jon Gruden, saying on a 1-to-10 scale his game preparation was a seven or eight and that some of his off-the-field antics were due to a lack of maturity.

Jeff Bray said if a player isn’t picked by the sixth or seventh round, it’s almost better to sign as a free agent so you can pick the best team fit.